Guiding Bigger Woman to Better Way of Dressing

NEW YORK — Mary Duffy weighs 165 pounds and, by her own description and according to a body classification system she devised, is "an O shape--an egg with legs."

The other shapes are H, A, X. Insert the O after the H, and you have Duffy's "HOAX Theory of Body Builds." HOAX applies only to big women, the type of model Duffy supplies for ads and shows.

Duffy, a size 16 who runs the Big Beauties model agency, says the average American female is not the size 8 of most modeling agencies. She says government statistics show the average woman is 5-feet-3.8-inches tall and 143 pounds.

Duffy explained that the H female is shaped "straight up and down." The A is, well, A-shaped, widening from the shoulders and becoming somewhat pear-shaped. The X, though large, too, has a defined waistline.

Donna, for example, one of the big models Duffy places, is something of an X. Her measurements are 39-29-40; size 14; 170 pounds.

"I'm perfectly happy being this size," she said. "It's what my body wants. I exercise three times a week and watch what I eat. This is just the size I was meant to be." The HOAX theory put forth by Duffy might amuse experts in anatomy who generally recognize three distinct body builds: endomorph--rounded build with tendency to become fat; ectomorph, light body with slight muscle mass; mesomorph, a husky, muscular build.

But Duffy said for her purpose--helping guide large women to better ways of dressing--the HOAX system works quite well.

Based on her eight years in the large model industry and as a fashion consultant to the full-figured, here are Duffy's dressing tips for women who are H, O, A or X.